So How Did the Alaskan Independence Party Do?

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OK, the official numbers are not in yet in Alaska, but we can feel fairly confident that no candidate from the Alaskan Independence Party is going to win a seat this year. But how did they fare? They certainly got a lot more press than usual this year…especially from outside of Alaska.

The AIP Presidential candidate vote total went from .67% in 2004 to .52% in 2008. No real change.

But, the AIP Senatorial candidate went from 1.22% in 2004 to 4.14% in 2008. Almost a threefold increase! Did the AIP become all the rage because of the trendy secessionist tendencies of Todd Palin, Alaska’s First Dude and “former” AIPer? Did AIP Senate candidate Bob Bird, just ride the Palin’s coattails?

Or maybe the increase is due to those Republicans that couldn’t bring themselves to vote for a convicted felon, but also couldn’t bring themselves to vote for a Democrat?

Or maybe it’s because Ron Paul (who fared better than John McCain in the primary up here) endorsed Bob Bird, the AIP’s Senate candidate. Those Ron Paul fans are pretty loyal, and so this is a definite possibility.

It’s interesting to note that the increase in AIP votes from 2004 to 2008 would more than make up the difference between the now trailing Ted Stevens, and his Democratic rival for the senate seat, Mark Begich. I suppose in a metaphorical way, you could say that Ron Paul may have given Ted Stevens the “Bird”.

The only other AIP candidate on the ticket this year was Dan DeNardo running in House District 31. You may remember him from a little bedtime story on Mudflats last month. Just a quick reminder if you don’t want to go back and read the whole thing…

Here’s his bio:

“I study the creation and impact of the Luciferian Marxist-Lenninist Dialectical Sovietism that is the most encompassing secular historical force controlling every incorporated political party; the world’s exchange systems based on perpetual indentured slavery through interest bearing irredeemable security obligations, i.e. federal reserve notes; Law Merchant advisory panels masquerading as “juries”; bar associations composed strictly of card-carrying Kommunist Komrade Kriminals acting in Alaska under the Alaska Supreme Soviet in conjunction with Soviet counterparts in NKVD through the Khabarovsk-Alaska Collectivization Project; and state sponsored Kriminal Globalism’s “perpetual War for perpetual peace.”

And this guy got 3%…..so all my theorizing about Bob Bird’s 4% may have just been blown out the window. Maybe it’s just Alaska.

Holy cow. I’d forgotten that luscious tidbit of – what do we call that anyway? Is there a word for it, or do we have to coin it Denardoism? Is the First Dud voting for him? Is the First Dudette?

Things are SO colorful up there, I swear. It’s like a huge canvas full of modern art smears and squiggles and splotches, with a few solid shapes trying to hold their own in the swirling mess of muck. Maybe that’s where the 3% comes from, people without a clue who’ll buy anything so weird and ugly as “fine art” – or as “worthy politics”, as it were :o)

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Erin(22:02:41) :

Top 5?

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Eyes Wide Open in Pittsburgh, PA(22:03:50) :

6?

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califpat(22:08:42) :

I dont know if this has been posted but Sarah Palin has not taken a powder. She will be on Larry King tomorrow night. Again! Has she no shame? Sheesh!!!

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GJ in ID(22:14:16) :

fun voting record…

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GJ in ID(22:16:33) :

Well, how was I going to get in the top 10? You got to be fast here in Mudflats

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SMG - MN(22:18:15) :

califpat (22:08:42) :

I dont know if this has been posted but Sarah Palin has not taken a powder. She will be on Larry King tomorrow night. Again! Has she no shame? Sheesh!!!

Isn’t the Saturday Larry King always a rerun of a previous weekday show?

Dan DeNardo’s speech sounds like a paranoid shizophrenic who’s off his meds. His walls and windows are probably covered with black fabric. He has an underground tunnel running from a trapdoor in his bedroom to a bunker 100 yards away. His living room is filled with stacks and stacks of paper “evidence” up to the ceiling with narrow paths not unlike a rabbit warren. His guns and ammo cover the dining room table…he eats on paper plates standing up…at the ready…for whatever….while muttering the above inspired gibberish…

And 3% of Alaskans in House District 31 voted for him. Makes a little more sense then how Palin was elected…I guess. Sigh.

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CO Almost Native(22:21:18) :

twoish:)

And on that happy note, I bid all of you mudpuppies good night and sweet dreams- and no nightmares involving Dan De Nardo’s garbled rantings about abolishing the federal monetary system, the stock market, the judicial system,anything that is organized by businessmen, and something about neoglobism or some such gobbledy gook.

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Forty Watt(22:21:50) :

‘Ron Paul may have given Ted Stevens the “Bird”.’ Too good.

Now how to work Luciferian Marxist-Lenninist Dialectical Sovietism into my next conversation, not to mention bar associations composed strictly of card-carrying Kommunist Komrade Kriminals? Krikey!

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SMR(22:22:47) :

F@#$ing Larry King. I hope the old bastard gets all excited and keels over. Time for a universal boycott of his show unless he asks her some tough questions. What shite!

@Ira2 re: Berkowitz. Nothing wrong with him, except that lots of people here consider him an effette latte drinking closet case from San Francisco. Never mind that he’s lived here about 15 yrs I think, and he did lots of good as a legislator. Of course he’s a lawyer, so there are plenty of people who cannot bring themselves to vote for one of THOSE. He has all of the experience & intelligence to be desired in a congressman, but that doesn’t mean a thing here in Alaska to so many voters.

Maybe there was a collective freak-out by people who thought that if Ted was going down that we’d not have ANYONE looking out for our interests if we also got rid of Don Young. And Don has not actually been tried or convicted yet, something that only means something to about half of Alaskans anyway.

There is nothing wrong with Berkowitz, nothing to be held over his head, no dirt, he’s a solid guy. Alaskans vote stupid. You all know that now. There is plenty of proof. Rome wasn’t built in a day, it will take a long long time to educate Alaskan voters, and there will always be too many stupid ones that cannot, & do not want to be, educated about paltry things like ISSUES.

Thanks for the insight. This has been on my mind as one of those puzzlers that won’t go away without some explanation.

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califpat(22:27:00) :

SMG: You are probably right. I came in the room at the end of the preview of Larry King Live. Whew!! I need my mute button and its almost dysfunctional from constant use of muting SWWNBN. Thanks again SMG.

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Bea(22:29:52) :

SMR (22:22:47): There is nothing wrong with Berkowitz, nothing to be held over his head, no dirt, he’s a solid guy. Alaskans vote stupid. You all know that now. There is plenty of proof. Rome wasn’t built in a day, it will take a long long time to educate Alaskan voters, and there will always be too many stupid ones that cannot, & do not want to be, educated about paltry things like ISSUES.

____

Maybe there’s a bumper sticker in there for Sarah’s next campaign… “Nome is no Rome! Vote Stupid!”

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Cassie Jeep Pike Palin (Wish I were Trout)(22:29:54) :

OK…I’m still pissed off from the prior thread regarding separation of church(nontaxable) and state.

ll get over it.

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kidsquid(22:31:46) :

@Cassie Jeep Pike Palin (Wish I were Trout) (22:20:55) :

As an accountant, how would you have accounted and budgeted for the loaves and fishes that fed the four thousand? We serve by faith with love and His will be done.

William Ayers was on “Good Morning America” today, although I didn’t watch it. Morning TV is like morning sickness. Anyhow…I’d love to see Dan DeNardo peddling his wares on GMA. The remaining percentage of yokels in this country who still think Palin is the “Real American” would have to do some serious soul-searching since Palin and The Dud have close ties with the AIP.

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mhrt oregon(22:31:53) :

Ira2
————left you a msg at the bottom of the last post but of couse……i always in up talking to my self…………

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SMR(22:32:10) :

@Cassie — deep breaths. deep breaths. she/he left you another little love note. had to put that in to wind you up. it’s true though, but you don’t have to go over to look at it until you’re back in your zen place…

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Cassie Jeep Pike Palin (Wish I were Trout)(22:35:05) :

kidsquid (22:31:46) :

@Cassie Jeep Pike Palin (Wish I were Trout) (22:20:55) :

As an accountant, how would you have accounted and budgeted for the loaves and fishes that fed the four thousand? We serve by faith with love and His will be done.
__________________________________________________________________________________

I would account for that with LOVE, not the HATE stirred up by McCain/Palin.

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Nisperos(22:35:51) :

LMAO – highly amusing. The other item – than piece of anatomy in the posterior, I wish I could diet it off, especially after all the snacking from this election. Been eating lots of boring carrots tonight. Just have to pick yourself up and start again with the exercise and better eating…

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Cassie Jeep Pike Palin (Wish I were Trout)(22:35:58) :

Cassie Jeep Pike Palin (Wish I were Trout)
———————————————————
The nature of love is to create.

Gimme that old time religion, gimme that old time religion, gimme that old time religion and it’s good enough for me. Makes the proddies love the cathlics, makes the cathlics love the jews, makes the jews love the muslems, make the muslims love the buddists, makes the buddists love the humanists… and its good enough for me….

Hey, I posted this on the other thread, but since you’re all here now, here it is, just had to get this off my chest since I hadn’t weighed in on the issue yet:

@Kidsquid/Cassie/whomever else is engaged in the tax exempt issue —

Am I missing something here? How does paying taxes preclude any person or organization or church from doing good deeds for others?

It seems pretty straightforward to me — if a religious institution of any kind cannot keep the church/state thing separate then they must forfeit tax exempt status.

It doesn’t mean that they have to stop doing good things! They can pay their taxes and DEDUCT any expenses they have for their charitable acts.

It has always seemed to me that there are too few churches who don’t abuse the tax exempt thing, anyway.

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Bea(22:47:03) :

Wonder where all the lovely Muddies from across the seas are tonight? I hope they didn’t get waylaid by trolls when they were trudging in… Or maybe they got caught by Customs trying to bring in soft cheeses and exotic foreign fruits??

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Nisperos(22:47:57) :

@Forty Watt (22:42:52) :

Shouldn’t that be Kross-eyed.

Yes… Your absolutely right! Kross-eyed Kommunist Komrade Kriminals!

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Bear Woman(22:51:08) :

@ Nisperos (22:41:18) :

Well, I am Bear Woman, but not cross-eyed….

On Alaska politics and people like DeNardo, keeping Don Young, etc…..

It is true that many parents and others used to dump their derange, delussional and troubled off-spring and family members in Alaska figuring they could not get in trouble here. Some remain, some become recluses (not the spider), some stay and have kids and teach them their ways, and others leave for unknown places.

As to Don Young — his wife is Alaska Native and he gets their vote, although much less this year than in the past. He is a rabid Repug and some vote him in just because he is so atrocious. This is the first year in many that he has had a reasonable, viable opponent both in the primary and November election. As said in a prior post, some people could vote against Ted because of the conviction, but many could not bring themselves to vote against TS and DY. Sadly, that means that Ethan is on the losing end….

On a positive note, maybe he can run for Gov in 2010 and defeat SWWNBN!

Life in Alaska politics is never dull and always has a couple of characters. Even though this is in the 21st century, some people still think it is the Wild, Wild West

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kidsquid(22:51:31) :

@ira2 (22:41:16) :
I don’t know why, but that made me laugh my a** off. You’re are right, and some divine intervention and we get Obama.

Sarah? Sarah, is that you?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be nice.

I am ecstatic that OBAMA is our President. I have nothing but bad feeling for and about SP. BO is an answered prayer.
I can barely wait until the SP’s things are uncovered and laid out for a jury to see.

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mhrt oregon(22:52:36) :

SMR
————-
right on
just thinking is this a troll….we had a couple last night………

Ira2
———–
i am so sorry ….I really thoght that you did……..because you say you love the snow and stuff……..sorry

Oh, I love the snow all right, but Minnesota just isn’t my cup of tea. I like mountains, the higher the better… and a bit of a frontier mindset… and mountains… and the kind of living that just doesn’t allow people much sedate excess… and crystal-clear air and water… yanno – mountains.

No need to be sorry though. Why would you be?

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Jamie, Floridian in France(22:54:50) :

@califpat (22:08:42) :

I dont know if this has been posted but Sarah Palin has not taken a powder. She will be on Larry King tomorrow night. Again! Has she no shame? Sheesh!!!
—

Two mornings ago, I cringed my way through the Larry King/Sarah Palin interview. Yesterday morning I turned on Larry King and saw to my dismay that Sarah Palin was on AGAIN! WTF? But once it started, I realized that it was just a replay of the interview from the day before. So turned it off and went to watch Jon Stewart on-line (yummier). I guess old Larry wanted to make sure that no one missed it!

It is Saturday and hubby is home, so I will only be able to steal moments here and there at mudflats today. And I have recipes to post on the forum.

Speaking of which – Cassie Jeep I noticed that you were the first to post a recipe – and it was BOOZE!

Obviously, my plan to slowly adjust to EU time for my trip next week has gone completely in la crapper. I am 100% on Alaska time now.

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anchorage_patriot(23:00:59) :

Coupla weird observations: Everybody I know said ‘gee I wish Berkowitz was running against Stevens, I like him better than Begich.’ Don Young is the asshole who actually screams ‘I don’t have to talk to you’ at reporters. I personally think he’s worse than Palin and Stevens put together. Hey big world out there! you haven’t even seen the worst of Alaska politicians if you only know Sarah and Uncle Ted. I’m glad you were introduced to Dan DeNardo tonight.

Also: The very people who voted for Stevens are the ones who haven’t gotten shit from Stevens. The people in Huston, Wassilla, Anchor Point, and Soldotna are the ones who are eeking out an existence there in the lean private sector. The state is awash in money but they don’t see much of it.

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kidsquid(23:01:22) :

I wonder why?

Retail giant Costco this week pulled the plug on plans to build a 154,000-square-foot store beside the Parks Highway in Wasilla.

In a letter to the city of Wasilla, Costco Real Estate Development director Kim Sanford stated only, “Costco Wholesale’s Senior Management has decided not to pursue this project further.”

Sanford and other company officials did not respond to calls about the decision.

Costco has been at the top of Wasilla residents’ retailer wish list for years. Target, which also ranked high, opened a Wasilla store last month.

Wasilla planning director Jim Holycross said he had hoped Costco representatives would list a more substantive reason for halting the project.

I will tell you EXACTLY why Costco decided against opening a store in Wasilla.

They have watched two and half months of Sarah Palin making everybody in the world believe that Wasilla is full of the most repugnant people on the planet.

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Bear Woman(23:03:22) :

@ mhrt oregon (22:52:36) :

My thoughts exactly!

I have sent Asiangirl an e-mail asking her to come back and play in the mud…. I hope she will return!

Priceless! The last story of David Lloyd’s makes one wonder how widespread the phenomenon of syntax serial killers actually is.

‘A Navy lecturer was talking about some directives on the blackboard that he said to do something about, “except for these here ones with the asteroids in back of.”’

Even David couldn’t make that up.

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Look, she wasn't ready for this, obviously(23:22:26) :

From NRO: Interview with Steve Davis

On putting Palin out in big, hostile network interviews at the beginning: “Our assumption was people would not let us release her on Fox or local TV.”

On the Couric interview, which Davis says Palin thought would be softer because she was being interviewed by a woman: “She was under the impression the Couric thing was going to be easier than it was. Everyone’s guard was down for the Couric interview.”

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"Look, she wasn't ready for this, obviously."(23:26:09) :

@kidsquid (23:01:22) :

Retail giant Costco this week pulled the plug on plans to build a 154,000-square-foot store beside the Parks Highway in Wasilla.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A reader tracked down one of the first mentions in the press of Sarah Palin. From the Anchorage Daily News, April 3, 1996:
Sarah Palin, a commercial fisherman from Wasilla, told her husband on Tuesday she was driving to Anchorage to shop at Costco. Instead, she headed straight for Ivana. And there, at J.C. Penney’s cosmetic department, was Ivana, the former Mrs. Donald Trump, sitting at a table next to a photograph of herself. She wore a light-colored pantsuit and pink fingernail polish. Her blonde hair was coiffed in a bouffant French twist.
”We want to see Ivana,” said Palin, who admittedly smells like salmon for a large part of the summer, ”because we are so desperate in Alaska for any semblance of glamour and culture.”

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Jamie, Floridian in France(23:35:32) :

Hiya Bea,

Yeah I am here, but this morning hubby asked me “What are your plans for the weekend?” and I, smartly, answered “Paying attention to you?” and he saud “Right!” So I’ll be lurking, throwing in my 2 cents when I can.

I have to read tha Cavett. Love him!

And she actually thought that Couric would be softer because she’s a woman? Who’s bein’ sexist now, honey?

And is that story about Ivana true or am I just gullible? But I can see where she would think Ivana-early-90’s would be the ultimate in Glamour and Culture!

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"Look, she wasn't ready for this, obviously."(23:38:46) :

@Jamie, Floridian in France (23:35:32) :

And is that story about Ivana true or am I just gullible? But I can see where she would think Ivana-early-90’s would be the ultimate in Glamour and Culture!

Well, there are two Costcos in Anchorage, and both of them are quite busy pretty much all day. There are also two Sam’s Clubs, but they are pretty dingy and sketchy.

Anchorage has roughly 250,000. So, if you need 125,000 to make a Costco viable, there are not nearly enough people out in the Valley to get to that number, not even close. And then there’s the fact that the people from the Valley (and from the towns south of Anchorage) are going to go to Costco in Anchorage if that’s what they need to do, 50 mile drive or not.

Bible Spice has certainly done nothing to improve the reputation of the Valley, quite the opposite, and the bad PR associated with the area might well have been part of the equation, but I have to think the main issue is lack of people to shop there.

Costco can afford to be picky, it’s not as if they have a store in every town. I love that they’ve given Wasilla the finger. Maybe they found out that the land that they were supposed to build on is owned by someone other than the city and they could look forward to years & years of litigation? Or maybe the lack of building permit requirements scared them off? It seems to me that building in a city without permit requirements could lead to some potential legal issues down the road. It really does not seem as though it could be legal, maybe in the future someone will sue because the Valley has been turned into a strip mall/box store cesspool… I’d avoid having a business there like the plague.

Wasilla and Kenai are my least favorite places in Alaska, and that is really saying something…

So evidently the AIP doesn’t know or care that they are committing treason? And I don’t mean spewing all that verbiage in the hopes of committing literacy.

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Road Runner(08:22:04) :

Ron Paul endorsing the Alaska Independence Party Senatorial candidate is amazing. See, this is what happens when candidates are not vetted.
CO Almost Native, I agree. All he saw was the word “Independence” and jumped to conclusions – no research.

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Willtheo(08:56:31) :

As someone familiar with symptoms of mental illness, I can say with some confidence that DeNardo appears to be using “word salad.” The use of invented words and spellings that are found in the speech of paranoid schizophrenics. Usually, it’s other schizophrenics who tend to find reason in that speech pattern. Interesting that he got 3% of Alaska’s vote.

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forkboy(09:25:02) :

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: some Alaskans vote for some really crazy and stupid people. Palin included.

ira2 Things are SO colorful up there, I swear. It’s like a huge canvas full of modern art smears and squiggles and splotches, with a few solid shapes trying to hold their own in the swirling mess of muck.

====
have enjoyed your posts before; got a big LOL from this rather Pollockian description of my town/state. I love Alaska for many reasons (mostly the mountains and the folks I call friends) and it is SO true, your description is, also, too, youbetcha!!!

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XYZ(14:09:01) :

Just to make some important corrections: Don Wright also earned 12,000 votes with the AIP, running for the U.S. House. As a leader of the Alaska Federation of Natives in the 1970s, Mr. Wright’s presence in the AIP is conveniently overlooked by those who engage in the wishful thinking that the AIP is racist, fringe, or whatever else you want to imagine inside your head. Wright, who never left his home, conducted an interview or made a phone call [recovering from brain surgery] brought the ANCSA lands to the natives in 1971. Alaska’s natives remember their own, and many understand that their future would be better not under federal dependency, but with their sovereign rights defended, which the AIP has historically done.
\
Also, Dan DeNardo long ago denounced and read out of AIP. There’s even an on-going lawsuit against him by the AIP, as some candidates have used the party as a flag-of-convenience. Whatever you might want to say about DeNardo, you can’t pin it on the AIP.

Sorry this doesn’t fit the fiction you like to promote about the AIP. It would ruin your lullabyes and even your nightmares.

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InJuneau aka Wrangler Tractor That One Hussein(16:16:47) :

@BigSlick YES WE CAN! Clamp Noodle Palin (00:58:57) :

Her father was actually a science teacher, biology I think, which makes her belief that we walked the earth with dinos 6000 years ago somewhat confounding.

I agree with XYZ. Mudflats is an excellent blog, but it is not fair for Mudflats to mention Daniel DeNardo without also saying that the party has been fighting in federal court since 2006 to keep him from running in its primaries. The party has lost in US District Court, and it lost again in the 9th circuit on October 6, 2008, but it has asked for a rehearing en banc. The full 9th circuit hasn’t ruled on that request yet. They may get it; their case is strong.